Family Reunion (Thr33 & Open)

"Ugh," Grant grunted, rolling onto his side as a kick in his stomach was his pleasant awakening. He lay motionless as a carrot landed on him, it being offered by Paige.

He brought himself up to a sitting position and squinted, examining the carrot. "Are you sure? I gave this food to you for helping me out. I have plenty more back at the bar." He explained briefly. He was very hungry but he didn't want to hinder Paige in any way.

He brought himself to his feet and stretched for a moment as Paige spoke. "You're leaving?" He asked for further clarification. He thought that maybe she was going to patrol the city for her brother so he continued. "I'll tell you what. If you help me secure the bar, you know, repair the windows and stuff, I'll help you patrol the city for your brother. I'd feel better if it was all locked up so that our stash is safe once the cooler is empty."

Grant still needed to find his family and see if they were okay, but, he couldn't leave her alone when he knew he could help. It was...in his nature he supposed. Plus, he wasn't the only man in the house. He was sure that his father could take care of the girls until he made it back.

"So, what do ya say?" He held a firm hand forward for a shake. "Do we have a deal?"

Biting his lip for a moment, Grant tossed his carrot on the bed after shaking her hand. "You know what Paige? You need to learn to value someone's thought process other than yours and stop being such an a$$ all the time." He spoke calmly and frankly while still giving off a slightly harsh tone.

He didn't know who was raising this girl or why she was so bitter, but wasn't just going to let her call him stupid over and over while he just sat there afraid to talk. "Sometimes, if someone offers to help you, maybe you should just worry about yourself."

Grant knew he was risking making her explode, but he was starting to not care. She would either hate him more, or respect him a little more for standing up for himself. Either way, he had a feeling that she didn't get yelled at very much. You can only smack talk someone so many times before they would bite back. He was still intending on helping her find her brother because he wanted to make sure she had someone before he left, but he was starting to think that they had better split up sooner rather than later.

"I'm sorry...I just had to say something if we're going to be around each other for awhile."

He folded his arms to wait for the following wrath of Paige that was sure to follow. He just decided he'd have to try to endure through it and get them to go on their way.

Falling on his butt as Paige hit him in the face with her skateboard, he widened his eyes as he listened to the girl vent. He seemed to really trigger something when he chewed her out, but he had no idea that it would be anything like this. A couple of times, he tried to get a few words in but she just kept on going, like she was a time bomb that just went off and she was giving him everything she had.

She finished her rant with a face full of tears as she left Grant's side. He sat there silently for a moment, letting Paige walk ahead a few steps. He got to his feet and brushed off his jeans before turning to her direction and jogging to catch up. He softly placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I really am, but...this isn't pointless. Everything that we can get as an asset will help us and...I'm not going to leave you alone..." He spoke, making a promise to her and to himself. "I have a feeling that people that are willing to help each other are in...short supply these days so...I'm thinking that we need to stick together and, well, this seems like as good a place as any to start."

He tried to speak as comforting as possible, but he knew he wasn't necessarily adept at that front. He tried hurrying his pace so that the girl would be a little behind him and he took a deep breath, hoping he'd said the right thing. It was strange. He never had this much trouble relating to his sister and yet...he had a feeling that Paige wasn't much like his sister.

They kept moving until Grant could see an outline of the bar in the horizon when he saw the outline of a man patrolling the area with a rifle. "Paige! People!" He whispered urgently behind him to the girl as he ducked behind an abandoned vehicle and tried spying on the patrolman through the window. What were they going to do!? He had no idea how to find out if they were friendly or if they would shoot them on sight.

"Whoa calm down! We don't have to kill them, do we?" He retorted quickly. "If we just decide that we're going to go around and kill everyone we see, how could we ever expect anyone to be watching our...um..."

Grant's eyes widened as he'd look up from behind Paige. He slowly stood up and rose his hands above his head to show that he meant no harm. As Paige would look, she'd see four bandit looking men, all with rifles aimed at the two of them.

"Come with us." Said the tallest man in a gruff, unrealistically low voice behind a bandanna that was covering his face.

"Dammit..." Grant would say under his breath as one man guided him with his rifle.

The man directed him through the cars in front of the bar that was filled with dozens of rough looking men, staring at him intensely while sharpening their knives and drinking ale. The man directed him through the bar door, now broken down and directed him towards a man that had turned a few of the tables into a makeshift throne of sorts.

"My client here says that he saw your little duo coming from this fine establishment with a cooler full of food yesterday night. So, here's the deal. Either you don't let us in the freezer, and we kill you or...you let us in the freezer...then we kill you anyway..." The man smiled, sinister as he stared into Grant's eyes..

He froze for a moment. How were they going to get out of this now? The key was in his pocket right then. He could feel it burning into his thigh. But...he couldn't give it away...all he could do is maybe buy them time.

"Um. I'd give you the key but...I don't have it!" He explained, thinking quickly. "It's in the alley outside somewhere though. I think I dropped it..."

The man frowned and whispered to a man next to him who ran outside. The tall man that had guided him in smiled and approached him with a large knife.

"Not yet!" The leader interrupted him just in time. "If he's lying, then we still need them."

The tall man frowned and nodded, moving over to the two and grabbed some rope from the ground and started tying them to chairs. Once they were bound fairly tightly, the leader left the room to speak to his troops, leaving the tall man to the front door, to guard them.

"Crap, now what?" Grant whispered to Paige.

After awhile of being tied up, Grant began to wonder what he'd do when the other bandits would come back for answers. Paige seemed to have an idea herself by trying to seduce the guard. It was a good idea, but he didn't think that usually worked with goth chicks. He couldn't help but smirk for a second as she got shut down. He could tell by the impact that it would leave no lasting effect, so he didn't have to feel guilty about that either.

Moments passed when the car rolled in. Grant stared at it, amazingly confused along with the guards, and even more confused because Paige seemed to just remember a hilarious joke or something. Didn't she remember that they were on the brink of death!?

Then the walkers came. At first there was one trying to enter the bar...then five...and then it seemed like fifty. The bandits began to rush into action and fight back...but as one would go down...two seemed to replace it. Grant was far more terrified of those things. The bandits were human. They were evil...but they were human. The walkers...Grant had no idea what they were. Why they do what they do? How they can even exist...and yet...they're there.

As he stared in awe, he felt himself freed from his binds. He looked over as Paige grabbed his arm and started guiding them straight through the skirmish. Everywhere there were men losing their lives as walkers tackled them to the ground, right next to the dead's heads bursting from gun shots. It was horrific. Scarring. Insanity.

At one point though, a bandit walked between the two's connection and knocked them loose from each other. Grant fell on the ground and tripped the bandit of his own body, on top of him. Grant tried scrambling to his feet, but the weight of the bandit was too much as the man dropped his rifle because of contact with the ground. A vicious walker attacked the man and began stabbing his teeth into the man's neck. The man shrieked in pain as life left him, his body jolting slightly into the air, allowing Grant to struggle free.

He dove over to the rifle and swung it into the head of the mindless creature, rendering it immobile. Grant quickly got to his feet, clutching the weapon tightly as if it was a long lost love. He scrambled, breathing heavily from the stress as he caught up to Paige.

"Crap, it's insane back there!!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?" He yelled as they ran, now seeming to follow the car.

Paige still seemed extremely confident and annoyingly silent. He kept his rifle ready to take down any walkers and, if needed, one of those bandits. He still didn't like the idea of killing a person but, if needed, he could handle it. The rush of the escape fueling him, he began to almost smile. The thrill of the run and Paige's confidence almost made it exciting. Well, at least he pretended to be excited to cover up the pure insanity of the situation.

As they made it far enough away so that the moans and gunfire dulled down, Grant came to a realization. "You know who's behind this, don't you?" He asked with a smile.

A figure appeared in the street as the two continued to run, making Grant hoist the rifle up slightly, in case the visitor wasn't friendly. But, as Paige kept running and the boy picked up the car, Grant got the picture and lowered his scope.

He slowed his pace to a walk as Paige ran over to greet the individual, hugging him and everything. Grant triggered what he had thought to be the safety and used the strap to hold it around his back, as he approached the two, scratching the back of his head, feeling like a third wheel.

The boy happily introduced himself as peanut's brother, soon, causing a smirk to appear on his face. "Peanuts, eh?" He started, laughing slightly. "Thanks for the help back there, man. I'm Grant. Your sister sure has a good head on her shoulders..."

He shook his hand for a moment before taking a step back to let the two catch up. Well, there they were. A family together again. They should be safe together, with their combined knowledge. He slowly backed up and turned to start walking down the road. He'd need to find a way to get some mode of transportation...he was too far away to walk and make it in the same day and...he had his own family to return to. It made him happy to see Steven and Paige reunited and...he had to believe that the same could happen with him.

With a slightly confused smirk as Steven called him hot, Grant gave a silent sigh of relief as the two offered to help him get back home. "Right, you two would probably get stuck in a ditch if I wasn't around." He joked.

As Paige grabbed his wrists, Grant looked down for a moment. "Thank you...for everything."

It was getting dark and he didn't feel confident surviving in this world when he couldn't see anything, so he nodded to them to let them know that he thought they should get going. This new world was different...scary and unpredictable but, he knew one thing for sure...this was the first time he actually felt kind of safe since he woke up in that bar.

"There's a long road ahead..."

(END)